Finishing method and apparatus



jufiy E 7, 1951 w. T. STANLEY FINISHING METHOD AND APPARATUS Filed Aug.14, 1945 Patented July 17, 1951 TED PATENT ICE FINISHING METHOD"APPARATUS William E1. S-tanlex, Gates Mills, Ohio iApplication'flugustl l, 1945;Serial'N'o. 610;741

,-2":C1aims. 01. 151-9164,)

This invention relates to the finishingiof artioles by themechanicallaction of various I articles 'uponeach other or theinteraction of such :arti =cles and other solid obj ects; such as whensub- 'jeeted "to an abrasive, 'gri-nd-i-ngor buriiishing operation.

"An object of the-invention is to provide an improved method :ofabradingygrinding, burnishing and the like which -may-easi1y-be\:.performed.

Another -object --is to provide an improved method-of abrading,grinding, burnishing and the like which may be "performed With the use'01 little power.

Another object is -to provide an =-improved method of abrading,grinding, burnishing and the like which will be extremely rapid.

Another object "is te -'-provide an improved "method of *abrad-ing,grindingpburnishing and the like in which the abrasive, grinding orburnishin action may be =oon'tro1led accurately.

- Another object is lto provide an improved apparatu-s -for abrading,grinding -or burni'sl'iing which will he simple i-n=construotion.

Another object :is to provideanimproved-apparatus for =abrading,grinding or aburnishing which maybe easily manufactured.

Another object is to provide an limproved- -apparatus for abrading,grinding -:or --burnish-ing which will .be efficient in operation.

Another object is to v provide an improved: :a-pparatus for abrading,grinding or."=burnishing which may #be easily loadedt-and emptied.

Another object is to provide animproved ap- 'paratus for tabr-ading,grinding 301 'burnishing which will be economical both-in manufactureand operation.

Another object of the invention is -'to=provi-d-e an improved apparatusfor abrading, grinding or burnishing in which :avariety ot materials maybe used-to produce difierent results.

Other objects will :hereinatter appear.

The invention will be more apparent from the description of onepractical embodiment thereof, illustrated in the accompanying drawing,in which:

Figure 1 is anenduelevational viewof amachine for practicing theinvention;

Figure 2 is a side elevational .view .of the machine of Figure -1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentaryatransverse sectional view taken on. theline.III+III sO'f'l FigureLZ; and

Figure 44 is -a transverse. sectional view taken on the .linefIVlV.ofFigure 3.

In the ldrawingnamachine is illustrated which .-is .intendedefor. theremovalloflburrs, sharp edges, corners and ..the likefrom :metalobjects,x'this operation being .what is commonly known as tumbling.

In previous tumbling operations, it haszbeen -customaryrtoeplace anumber'ofuthe articles to vbe i'rfinished in a drum. tQ ether with labrasive material, and frequentlywater and aiterclosing the drum,'-to'=rotate-the same .so that vthe articles :and i the par-ticles ofabrasive lmaterial will :be carried-partially around the .drum by itsrotation to a point where they will zfall-.under the influenceofgravity; the impingement :of :the articles and abrasive particles 011:each :other serving to wear, :abrade.:ortgrindithe projecting burrs,--sh-arpedges, etc, to produce the. desired ifini'sh.

-The force-whichWaseappliedto the articles was due solely-to grzwity.acting upon rthemiand the other materials withinrthefldrum, andeso"would be a l functionmf the .distance ytthrough which they might talla-nd their respective weights.

-' Obviously the weightee'fv :either the :articles :or the \pieces ofabrasivelmaterial were in proportion tontheir sizeand. specificdgravity.;:If,:;the articles shad small holes or I .narrow notches or slots;small particleslsof.ltheeabrasive material would have to be usedto..penetra.te ltheseeopenings, iand :ith'ese iparticles, K in :turn,due to 2 :their :small'ness- -would-1be .irelatively light..i'Conseiquently; "their abrasive ore-similar action vroneariy givencontact wwith. the article edgesuwas very slight.

:Thus, atgreat .manyscycleseof .:the drum .Were mequired i forrthe vremoval of even every-small :amountsvofimaterial.

According. .toethe .presentinventiomrforces: are (introduced which,while, .of coursarare lstill proportional to the mass of articlesand'particles, but are not ilimited xby the .force of gravityactingthereon, lasithe invention replaces .or augments :this :force withianyidesired-oamount of centrifugal force.

v The v-mechanism illustrated -.=for ithis :;p urp0se :consistsofaaztrameworkiincluding two .tri-;.angu -1ar. frames l .conne cted byparallel vsupports ;or sills :2, :all lconveniently ibeingiformedl of:cha-nnel shaped or :similar. steel sections welded, together. :On lbothof the. frames :are carried hearings or e-j ournalszfi,supporting'iahorizontal vshaft A.

ijIlhislshaft may be .drivenafrom .a motor 5 carried upon theibasepas bya .sbelt. .6 :and stepped ;pulleys:1iand 8.

iEE'l-Xfid to t-hepashaft 4 ;are vtworspiders :19, :each\s'hownzaszhaving four; arms; in which: are trunni'oned :Jfourreceptacles :tll.

rl llheucontainers H] are shown :as g.enerallyz=rec- :tangularopen-topped boxes, the :tops .being closed by lids ll.,-.-;seour.ed21101217116 ",COIltai'neIf-.gby .pivotedlbolts andrwing nuts 4.2.

Arlining I3 {may zbe, -provi,ded ,.for the container and ga gasketetdmay "be interposed between the .containeratopeand the lid, Fso-thatwhen-the lid is zclamped shut, La watertight ;-seal ,is (produced.

iGentrally, .on -:the :BIldS 10f the =,container,,. are mounted socketsA 5,, shown :to an enlarged scale in Figure 3, these sockets each.:;b,eing,;.provided 3 with a non-circular opening, illustrated assquare in this figure.

Into the socket [5 at the left hand end of the container (as seen inFigure 2) projects the squared end 16 of a shaft ll journaled in one endof an arm of spider 9. The squared end of the shaft is held in thesocket by a headed pin 18, which, in turn, is retained by a spring clipon split pin I9 passing through a perforation in the end of pin 18remote from its head.

The outer end of shaft I! has fixed to it a sprocket 20, around whichpasses a chain 21, the chain also passin around a fixed sprocket 22secured to a sleeve 23 fixed to bearing 3, shown at the left hand sideof this figure.

Thus, there are four stationary sprockets 22 and four chains 2!connecting to the various sprockets 20 in the four-container form ofdevice illustrated.

The socket 15 at the right hand side of Figure '2 receives the squaredend of a short stub shaft 24 journaled in the end of one of the arms ofthe spider 9 at the right hand side of the figure, this stub shaft beingsecured to the socket by a headed pin 18 and split pin [9, as is theshaft IT. The stub shaft is provided with a knurled or other easilygrippable head 25.

The sprocket 20 and 22 may be chosen in any desired ratio, and,dependent upon this ratio, the containers may revolve about theirtrunnionlike connections of'the sockets i5 and shafts l6 and 2d at anydesired speed in relation to the speed of the rotation of shaft 4, whilethe speed of the latter, of course, will be determined by that of motor5 and the steps of pulleys I and 8 which are engaged by the belt 6.

Thus, the containers may be given a planetary motion, revolving incircular orbits about the axis of shaft 4 at any desired predeterminedspeed, and rotating on the axes of shafts i7 and 24 also at any desiredpreselected speed.

In practice, I have found that a ratio of 1 to 1 for sprockets 20 and 22is very satisfactory, this, of course, maintains the containers alwaysin position with their lids uppermost, the containers traveling in themanner of the case of a Ferris wheel.

By imparting sufiicient velocity of rotation to the shaft 4, and thus tothe spiders and containers, sufiicient centrifugal force is applied tothe contents of the containers (these contents 26 consistin of parts tobe'finished and abrasive material such, for instance, as granite chips,to which may be added water if desired) and as these materials arecarried around by the container traveling through its orbit, thecontents are shifted from side to side, being in the bottom when thecontainer is in its lowermost position, against the outer side inintermediate positions, and pressing against the top when in itsuppermost position.

The force with which they press against these sides, of course, dependson the speed of rotation, and may, therefore, be varied as desired. Itis, consequently, independent of the specific gravity of the articlesthemselves, or of the abrasive material, but is dependent solely uponthe mass and velocity of these substances.

In this manner a much quicker finishing operation may be performed, andit is also possible to use relatively small quantities both of articlesto be worked upon and of finishing materials in each container. This isa distinct advantage, particularly in the finishing of small articleswhich are diflicult to separate from large masses of finishing material.

While the material for operating upon the articles is shown as abrasive,it may be a material which has a burnishing, crushing, or similaraction, or the articles alone may act upon each other, in which event,with reference to any one article, the other articles constitute theworkin material. Hence, the term working material will be used in theclaims to define any substance capable of acting on the articles in amechanical manner, whether by abrasion, burnishing, crushing or thelike, or to other articles, and will be understood to include bothsolids and liquids as and well as mixtures of solids and liquids.

Also, the process and apparatus may be used when the desired product isthe complete reduction of the articles toapulverized, or granulated orother finely divided state; All such operations are, therefore, tobecomprehended by the terms finishing and finishing articles as used inthe claims.

While I have described the illustrated embodiment of my invention insome particularity, obviously many other embodiments, variations, andmodifications willv readil occur to thos skill-ed in this art, and I donot, therefore, limit myself to the I precise details shown anddescribed herein, but claim as my invention all embodiments,modifications and variation coming within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A machine comprising a base, horizontally arranged bearings carriedby said base, a horizontal shaft rotatably mounted in the bearings, anelectric motor connected to said shaft, supporting arms fixed to theshaft, stub-shafts journaled in the ends of said arms, drivingconnections between some of said stub shafts and the base, and aplurality of containers pivotally supported on said stub shafts androtatable therewith, the containers and stub shafts havingtelescopically engaging non-circular portions.

2. The method of finishing articles which comprises confining a loosemass of articles and finishing material in a container having a volumesubstantially twice as great as thevolume of said loose mass, revolvingsaid container about an axis external thereof in an orbit at such aspeed as to cause centrifugal force to overcome the effect ofgravitational forces acting on the mass and maintaining the container insuch an angular position with respect to an axi passing therethrough andparallel to the first axis that the resultant force acting on the loosemass within the container will cause the same to rotate relative to thecontainer about the axis passing therethrough.

W. T. STANLEY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 895,173 'Ecaubert Aug. 4, 19081,491,601 Fuller Apr. 22, 1924 1,570,242 Goerz et al Jan. 19, 19262,387,095 Shideler'et a1. Oct. 16, 1945 2,387,136 Fruth Oct. 16, 19452,387,142 Fruth s Oct. 16, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date25,875 Norway May 18, 1915 1 54,540 Switzerland Jan. 25, 191-1

